Domestic violence can spill into your work life

Domestic violence doesn't only happen in the home. In truth, it can become a problem in the workplace, too. A report from April 21 discusses how important it is to highlight violence in the workplace after two hospital employees were killed.

The first incident took place in August 2013 when an administrative assistant was fatally shot by her estranged husband. Later on at the beginning of 2014, another worker, a nurse, was killed when she was stabbed to death by her son.

In the workplace, the staff is affected. The hospital staff had been trained to identify patients struggling with domestic violence, but in these cases, they didn't recognize the signs. Now, the hospital decided to take steps to address domestic violence among the workforce to help prevent these incidents. Intensive training programs and a new workplace policy aim to keep workers safer.

In the past, the hospital didn't have a formal workplace domestic violence policy. Today, most organizations around the county don't, either. With domestic violence affecting one in four women in the United States, it's necessary to make sure workplaces address this violence. Domestic violence creates dangerous safety concerns at work; an estranged spouse could enter a building a shoot someone, or a lover could stab another. Domestic violence also costs the United States around $8 billion a year in health care costs and lost productivity.

Domestic violence spills into the victim's work life. The person may be stalked, could be receiving threatening calls or be physically assaulted on the job. Recognizing these risks is key to a safe work environment.

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